Most overrated albums

No, I think he has something.

^Sounds good to me.

The only way to have a interesting say on a question like this, is to look for the most popular artist, and start saying he has no material over 3 stars (one or two stars would be spotted as trolling)

dtguitarfan wrote: infocat wrote: I would call them only slightly overrated.  I like them a lot, but indeed they are not the 5+ star albums so many seem to think. Thank you! infocat wrote: I am curious, though, if you've heard anything other than Part the Second, as they are quite a bit different than that one. Le sigh...no, I have not, and I have been messages a few times saying I simply must try other albums by them.  I just don't want to now...but I most likely will one of these days.  But I'm telling you - this time I'm not going to suffer!  If I don't like the first song or two, I'm stopping the album!

The first two songs from Bath:




The first somewhat similar to PtS.  The second, notsomuch. 

dtguitarfan wrote: On a side note, LOVED the Sky Architect album "A Dying Man's Hymn"...

A bit underrated, that one!

manofmystery wrote: 1. Anything by Genesis - Will never have any idea how you guys stand Peter Gabriel.

I never understood how I could put up with his voice. I guess I just got used to that vocal timbre of a sheep.

manofmystery wrote: 3. Soft Machine - Third - a messy step down from their first two albums but for some reason the highest rated here.

Actually, I find it quite cold and organized in some places, but the cool messy parts are there to compensate for the coldness, I suppose.

Snow Dog wrote: Logan wrote: Cthulhu42 wrote: SolarLuna96 wrote: dtguitarfan wrote: I think the record holder on this site for being over-rated is Maudlin of the Well. I mean, seriously, do they have a single fan who's willing to step back and say "maybe this isn't worth 5 stars...maybe I shouldn't recommend them to everybody on every single forum thread?" Says the guy who rated all but one of DTs studio albums 5 stars...  I counted two there that he gave 3 stars. But he gave Univers Zero's Clivages and Xing Sa's Creation de l'Univers one star.  Clearly ridiculous.

Yes, I'm ridiculous because I've discovered there's no way I'm going to like music that is "in opposition"...or in layman's terms: musicians who sound terrible ON PURPOSE.  *ducks*
(bazinga)


Edited by dtguitarfan - June 15 2012 at 05:53

dtguitarfan wrote: I think the record holder on this site for being over-rated is Maudlin of the Well. I mean, seriously, do they have a single fan who's willing to step back and say "maybe this isn't worth 5 stars...maybe I shouldn't recommend them to everybody on every single forum thread?"

I would call them only slightly overrated.  I like them a lot, but indeed they are not the 5+ star albums so many seem to think.  I am curious, though, if you've heard anything other than Part the Second, as they are quite a bit different than that one.

I don't see anything wrong with recommending them to everyone, though.  But no, not everyone is going to like them.

rogerthat wrote: Saperlipopette! wrote: rogerthat wrote: [QUOTE=Saperlipopette!] ^Taste is very much based on knowledge, if you lack knowledge, your opinion is worth less. And why should your opinion be worth anything in particular to anyone but for yourself?   Also, knowledge is not necessarily always accompanied by an open mind, which is also important to both artist and audience in art.   At least, if by knowledge is meant academic knowledge of the ways and means of music.  Lastly, whether a three star restaurant is better than McDonalds also depends on price.  Same with cars.  Irrespective of how awesome a Porsche might be, it is not within the grasp of everybody's wallets.  So that is not a good parallel vis-a-vis music, where the so called elite music is not necessarily priced out of the reach of the 'masses'.   Or, maybe it is, because it depends on the need.  Complex music is for those who can spare time to give their undivided attention to the music and also have the inclination to do so.  But there's also music for the commute or the car ride or a workout.  An easier comparison could be made between two artists that make the same kind of music, which is usually why comparisons are restricted to genres.  Sorry, had to go places and do things.   I'm not writing about my opinion or yours, as in me and you if that's how you read me.  If you don't believe that there's such a thing as a qualified opinion (worth paying attention to for someone wanting to learn, or get advice), or that a qualified opinion has any value for anyone but oneself, we don't share enough common ground to discuss any further. Price is btw. a completely irrelevant argument. I was obviously comparing the qualities that would have stayed the same if you got both meals for free.

I was not talking about your or my opinion either, just opinions in general.

Indeed, I don't see the point of qualified opinions for an audience.  For a musician, yes, certainly it is valuable.  The audience is not obliged to think like the musicians, imo.  It is for the musicians to reach out to them, to quote Kevin Gilbert "make it so we might understand".  Knowledge does have 'derived value' - a professor can share his knowledge of music with students.  To refer to your example, the works of a great classical composer are studied and made a part of the curriculum of music schools.  But I don't know that one has to know less or more about music to decide if he ought to listen to Bieber or Stostakovich. 

Lastly, I introduced price into the equation because MacD is made for a certain price, a certain need.  It works in the same fashion for anything that is sold for a consideration.  If both the MacD and the 3 star had to give free meals, it is quite possible the MacD would perform better because of lower overheads and larger scale of economies. 

If my point was not clear the last time around, I will try another way.  Your own musical tastes evolve from your experiences with music and possibly other cultural factors as well as your own willingness, or lack thereof, to try something else.  So at any given point of time, you yourself are in the best position to say what works for you because it is something very personal.   Another person, however educated about music though he might be, cannot help you there beyond a point.  If he doesn't like the music you do and you don't like what he listens to, it is even more unlikely he will be of any help to you at all.  This is why listeners ask friends with similar tastes for recommendations and this is why genre-centric websites exist.  That is all I wanted to say.  I am not trying to say 10 year fangirl knows as much about music as the professor.  I think I made that clear before, but perhaps it's worth re-iterating.   The point is simply, that even with 'transfer of knowledge', ten year old fangirl and professor's tastes will not meet and said professor might have been a lot more like the fangirl at the age of ten than he would care to admit.
    


Edited by rogerthat - June 14 2012 at 20:38

rogerthat wrote: Saperlipopette! wrote: ^Taste is very much based on knowledge, if you lack knowledge, your opinion is worth less. And why should your opinion be worth anything in particular to anyone but for yourself?   Also, knowledge is not necessarily always accompanied by an open mind, which is also important to both artist and audience in art.   At least, if by knowledge is meant academic knowledge of the ways and means of music.  Lastly, whether a three star restaurant is better than McDonalds also depends on price.  Same with cars.  Irrespective of how awesome a Porsche might be, it is not within the grasp of everybody's wallets.  So that is not a good parallel vis-a-vis music, where the so called elite music is not necessarily priced out of the reach of the 'masses'.   Or, maybe it is, because it depends on the need.  Complex music is for those who can spare time to give their undivided attention to the music and also have the inclination to do so.  But there's also music for the commute or the car ride or a workout.  An easier comparison could be made between two artists that make the same kind of music, which is usually why comparisons are restricted to genres.

Edited by Saperlipopette! - June 14 2012 at 18:57